Submitted by Vikki Forsyth on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 09:43
Dr Dee Scadden in the Department of Biochemistry has been named winner of The Biochemical Society’s inaugural Teaching Excellence Award. The award, created by the Biochemical Society to promote and celebrate excellent teaching in the discipline, is new for 2018 and will be awarded annually. Dr Scadden was the judges’ unanimous choice for an award that celebrates an individual who ‘inspires students and colleagues to excel.’
Dr Scadden says she was ‘very surprised’ to win the award, but ‘absolutely delighted.’ Since 2015 she has worked on developing a series of e-learning resources to support various courses in Biochemistry and related departments, such as quizzes, films, techniques posters and other resources that students can access via Moodle. Dr Scadden was filming lectures even before the University embarked on its lecture capture pilot project, and thanks to her expertise now plays a key role on the lecture capture Project Board, encouraging colleagues in her own and other departments to get involved. Recognising that developing e-learning resources would call for a substantial investment of time and energy, Dr Scadden, with the full support of the Department of Biochemistry, in 2015 chose to take a step back from her successful research group in order to focus on teaching and on leading digital teaching and learning projects. It was difficult to give up her research career, but Dr Scadden says she has no regrets: ‘I love what I’m doing now – you can see the direct impact on students. The benefits are really tangible.’